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The 
Cradle of Pennsylvania 



THE 
CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 



THOMAS WILLING BALCH 
A Vice-President 

OF THE 

Historical Society of Pennsylvania 



Philadelphia 

ALLEN, LANE AND SCOTT 

1921 



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Copyright 1921 



BY 



Thomas Willing Balch 

CHfl 

^A 27 iS£2 



AN APPEAL TO THE 

PATRIOTIC COLONIAL SOCIETIES 

OF PENNSYLVANIA 

TO SAVE 

THE CRADLE OF OUR STATE 
BY URGING THE FOUNDING OF 
THE GOVERNOR PRINTZ PARK 



The 
Cradle of Pennsylvania 

I. 

IN 1907, Virginia celebrated the 
tri-centenary of the settlement on 
Jamestown Island, the first birth- 
place of the United States of America. 
In 1920 and 1921, Massachusetts 
commemorated the third centennial 
of the landing of her Pilgrim Fathers 
at Plymouth Rock, another birth- 
place of our country. The peoples of 
those two Commonwealths did well 
to recall to the attention of the whole 
Nation the early settlements of Vir- 
ginia and Massachusetts by men and 

(I) 



2 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

women of English stock. For with 
the settlements at Jamestown Island 
and Plymouth Rock began respec- 
tively the settlement by the English- 
speaking race of the five colonies 
south of Mason and Dixon's line — 
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, and Georgia — and 
the four colonies in New England — 
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 
Rhode Island, and Connecticut. 
Two other European Nations be- 
sides England joined in the work 
of colonizing the Atlantic seaboard 
of our country embraced within 
the area of the original Thirteen 
Colonies. Those two powers were 
the United Netherlands and Sweden. 
Three other European Nations be- 
gan settlements in other parts of 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 3 

the territory comprised within the 
present bounds of the United States. 
In the order of their occupancy and 
colonization of American lands, those 
three Nations were Spain, France and 
Russia. But none of these last three 
had a hand in the founding of our 
Nation. Their contributions were 
subsequently absorbed either by pur- 
chase or conquest. 

The Hollanders made a settlement 
in 1612 far up the North or Hudson 
River and built two years later in 
1614 at the same place a fort to which 
a few years afterwards was given the 
name of Fort Orange. The mer- 
chants of the United Netherlands 
began trading annually as early 
as possibly 1613, certainly 1614, 
with the Indians on Manhattan 



4 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

Island. And since that time trade 
has been kept up every year be- 
tween Holland and the valley of 
the Hudson. From that trade re- 
sulted the settlement of Amsterdam 
or New Amsterdam in New Nether- 
land. Fort Orange and New Am- 
sterdam are now respectively Albany 
and New York. From the Dutch 
settlement on Manhattan Island, the 
Hollanders began to cross over and 
settle in what is now northern New 
Jersey. Meanwhile under Captain 
Cornelius Mey, whose name is per- 
petuated in Cape May, the Holland- 
ers also began effectually to occupy 
what is now southern New Jersey. 
Those lands that the Hollanders had 
occupied and settled, passed by right 
of conquest in 1664 under the sover- 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 5 

eignty of the English Crown. So 
both the present States of New York 
and New Jersey, which were born out 
of New Netherland, look for the be- 
ginning of their sovereignty to the 
United Netherlands. 

Likewise, a third one of the origi- 
nal Thirteen Colonies or States de- 
rives her sovereignty from the States 
General of the United Netherlands: 
Delaware. And like New York and 
New Jersey, Delaware eventually 
passed by conquest in war under the 
sovereignty of the English Crown. 
But unlike those two colonies, Dela- 
ware belonged for seventeen years 
after the Dutch period to the Swed- 
ish Crown and then again came as 
the result of war under the sover- 
eignty of the States General of the 



6 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

Netherlands before she passed by 
right of conquest under the English 
Crown. 

The Hollanders were the first white 
people to occupy and settle upon the 
land which now constitutes the State 
of Delaware. They established a col- 
ony on a stream near the mouth of 
the Delaware River in 1631. The 
Hollanders named the creek on which 
they settled, Hoornkill, most prob- 
ably in memory of the city of Hoorn 
on the Zuyder Zee. They built a fort 
and called it Oplandt. The surround- 
ing country they named Zwaandael, 
very likely on account of the number 
of swans that then abounded in the 
region. But owing to the inability 
of the Hollanders to live on amicable 
terms with the red men, the latter 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 7 

rose in their wrath six months after 
the founding of the Dutch settlement 
and wiped it out of existence by kill- 
ing all its members except, according 
to tradition, one sole Hollander. 
That effectually ended that early 
Dutch effort to actually occupy and 
possess the land of present-day Dela- 
ware. While the Hollanders had 
with the destruction of the settle- 
ment on the Hoornkill by the Indians 
thereby lost the actual possession of 
the land of Delaware, they still had 
by the rules of the Law of Nations an 
inchoate title to that country which 
they could change into possession 
once more by occupying the land 
within a reasonable time again. But 
the Dutch did not reoccupy the coun- 
try along the Delaware in the next 



8 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

few years. And in 1638 a Swedish 
colonial expedition, sent out in the 
reign of Queen Christina by her 
Chancellor, Axel Oxenstierna, began 
a Swedish settlement at a point 
within the bounds of the present 
City of Wilmington. The creek on 
which they located they named in 
honor of their Queen, Christina 
Creek, and the fort they built they 
likewise called after their sovereign 
lady. Fort Christina. 

In 1642 Oxenstierna sent Colonel 
Johan Printz, who had served in the 
Thirty Years's War in the Germanic 
Empire, to New Sweden to be the 
Governor of the colony. Printz 
sailed to cross the Atlantic from the 
port of Goteborg on the west coast 
of Sweden with two vessels, the Fama 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 9 

(Fame) , and the Svanen (Swan) . He 
took with him new colonists and ad- 
ditional supplies to reinforce the in- 
fant Swedish colony. The expedition 
touched on its transatlantic voy- 
age at the English West Indies, then 
ascended Delaware Bay and River, 
and reached Fort Christina early in 
1643. Governor Printz had received 
from his sovereign queen and her 
chancellor full powers to establish 
the capital of the colony wherever he 
thought best. Printz was not satis- 
fied with the site of Fort Christina a 
few miles up a narrow creek, a tribu- 
tary of the broad Delaware River. 
While it was a convenient place to 
trade with the surrounding Indians 
and afforded secure anchorage for 
the Swedish vessels, it did not enable 



10 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

the Swedish governor to control the 
passage up and down the Delaware 
River with his cannon. So Printz 
started out very shortly after his 
arrival at Fort Christina on a voyage 
of exploration. He sailed up the 
Delaware River as far as San Kikan, 
the modern Trenton. 

As a result of the information 
which he gained on that trip, Gov- 
ernor Printz decided that the lower 
end of Great Tenekongh or Tinicum 
Island was the place to establish the 
site of the capital and government 
of New Sweden. Great Tinicum 
Island was protected either by water 
or marshes on all sides from a 
direct attack from the mainland. 
Opposite in the middle of the Dela- 
ware River, Little Tinicum Island 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA II 

lay, as it were, on the waters. Be- 
tween Great and Little Tinicum 
Islands there was an excellent natu- 
ral harbor, the best for the small 
vessels of the seventeenth century on 
the whole course of the Delaware 
River from San Kikan to the At- 
lantic Ocean. So Governor Printz, 
using the plenary powers reposed in 
his good sense and judgment, de- 
cided to remove in 1643 the capital 
of New Sweden from Fort Christina 
to Great Tinicum Island. On that 
island, looking out over the Dela- 
ware, he built a fort which he named 
in honor of the Swedish port from 
which he had sailed with his 
expedition, Fort Nya Goteborg. 
He built houses for the settlers, 
and a house for himself, which 



12 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

was known as Printzhof. He 
had Swedish reHgious services. In 
November, 1643, in a patent in 
which Queen Christina granted the 
whole island to Printz and his 
descendants, the island was called 
like the fort, Nya Goteborg. Sub- 
sequently, in 1646, Printz built a 
chapel near the fort. In September 
of that year Magister Campanius 
consecrated this small wooden 
church on Tenekongh. It was the 
first church of the historic church 
of Sweden and also the first church 
of any branch of the universal 
church built within the bounds of 
Pennsylvania. 

When Governor Johan Printz, act- 
ing by official authority for and on 
behalf of his sovereign liege. Queen 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 1 3 

Christina of Sweden, established in 
1643 on Great Tinicum Island the 
seat of the sovereignty of which he 
was the personal and actual repre- 
sentative in America, the lower end 
of Great Tinicum Island became the 
cradle of what is today the Com- 
monwealth of Pennsylvania. It was 
the first permanent white colony set- 
tled within the area of our State. And 
then for the first time the Governor 
of a European colony, the personal 
representative of a European sover- 
eign, established the capital of his 
colony within the bounds of our pres- 
ent Commonwealth. 

Before that day no white people 
had effectually occupied the lands 
that now form Pennsylvania. A 
French voyageur, Etienne Brule, a 



14 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

companion of Champlain, very prob- 
ably had traversed about 1614 from 
north to south our present State in 
coursing down in a bark canoe the 
Susquehanna River. Later the Hol- 
landers had established one or two 
temporary trading posts to collect 
furs from the Indians but had never 
attempted to occupy the country 
permanently, as they had done in 
the settlement of Fort Oplandt in 
Swaandael at the southern end of 
what is now Delaware. 

Thus it was that Johan Printz in 
his official capacity of Governor of 
New Sweden, became the first execu- 
tive in that line of Governors which 
today actually and actively is repre- 
sented by the Governor of Pennsyl- 
vania. The sovereignty that Printz 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 1 5 

established over the land — that sub- 
sequently was named Pennsylvania 
— by actual occupation and posses- 
sion in 1643, was absorbed by con- 
quest in 1655 by the States General 
of the United Netherlands, from 
whom in turn it was taken in 1664, 
likewise in war, by the King of Eng- 
land, by whom, subject to his royal 
authority, it was delegated to Wil- 
liam Penn as Proprietor. And there- 
fore it is, that the permanent Swedish 
settlement of Governor Printz at Tin- 
icum in 1643 makes Tinicum Island 
one of the birthplaces of the Ameri- 
can Nation. And Pennsylvania 
should not lag behind her sisters of 
Virginia, New York and Massachu- 
setts in pointing out to the whole 
Union, nay to the whole world, where 
her early history begins. 



1 6 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

The memory of William Penn has 
been preserved in the name of our 
Commonwealth and in other ways. 
But too many of Pennsylvania's he- 
roic dead have not as yet received 
their proper due on the scrolls of 
history. And that is true of the 
original founders of our Province. 
With the passage of years, Governor 
Printz and his Swedish settlement on 
Great Tinicum have been all but for- 
gotten in the great and immense 
commercial development that has 
come to our beautiful and splen- 
didly endowed land of Pennsylvania. 
While the people of Pennsylvania 
have heard much of how Virginia had 
a code of laws in 1611 and began 
representative government in Ameri- 
ca in 1619, how Fort Orange was 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA I J 

built in 1614 and trade started in 
1613 or 1614 between the United 
Netherlands and Manhattan Island 
and kept up every year since, and 
how Massachusetts in the Mayflower 
compact of 1620 made a valuable 
contribution to the development of 
our Nation, the people of Pennsyl- 
vania have heard little of many of 
the great contributions that this 
Province and State have made to the 
formation and upbuilding of the 
United States of America. 

For instance, it is all but forgotten 
that the policy of fair dealings with 
the Indians inaugurated at Tinicum 
by Governor Printz and the Swedes 
prevented the breaking out of war 
between the pale faces and the red 
men in the area of our State through 



1 8 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

the Dutch period and the English 
period until the coming of William 
Penn in 1682. That was a precious 
beginning upon which the great 
Quaker statesman knew well how to 
build and under his leadership peace 
with the Indians continued for many 
years more. That was a notable and 
practical contribution to the cause of 
peace on the part of Printz and Penn 
of which our Commonwealth may 
well be proud, and it was in sharp 
contrast with the policy of war that 
marked the beginning of some of the 
other colonies. And Pennsylvania 
has made other important contribu- 
tions to the progress of mankind. 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 1 9 




II. 

ORE than a dozen years ago, 
when the Society of Colonial 
Wars decided to commemorate the 
settlements of the Hollanders and 
the Swedes in the valley of the 
Delaware the present writer's in- 
terest in Governor Printz and the 
Swedes was awakened. On Satur- 
day, the 6th of February, 1909, 
at the banquet which the Society of 
Colonial Wars gave to the Swedish 
and the Netherlands Ministers in 
the Assembly Hall of the Historical 
Society of Pennsylvania, on the occa- 
sion when the two bronze tablets on 
the south side of the City Hall to the 
memory of the Dutch and the Swed- 



20 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

ish settlements in the Delaware Val- 
ley were unveiled, I spoke to Mr. de 
Lagercrantz, the Swedish Minister, 
about the Swedish settlement on 
Tinicum Island and Governor Printz. 
He knew practically nothing of either. 
Then I explained to him that that 
was the first permanent settlement 
of Europeans within the area of pres- 
ent day Pennsylvania, and further, 
that Johan Printz was the first Gov- 
ernor in the line of executives that 
had developed into the Governors of 
Pennsylvania. I told Mr. de Lager- 
crantz that while we had in the His- 
torical Society portraits of Gustavus 
Adolphus, Queen Christina and Axel 
Oxenstierna who favored and sent 
out the Swedish colonial ventures to 
America, we had not a picture of 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 21 

Governor Printz, not even a small 
print or wood cut. And then I said 
to Mr. de Lagercrantz that if a por- 
trait of Printz existed in Sweden, and 
that if either an original or a copy, 
no matter how small, could be pre- 
sented to the Historical Society, it 
would be a notable contribution to 
American history. 

In addition, I urged upon Mr. de 
Lagercrantz, that if such a picture or 
portrait could come to the Historical 
Society as a gift from the King of 
Sweden, it would be better still. Mr. 
de Lagercrantz was greatly interested. 
He asked me to write him in a letter 
all that I had just told him so that 
he could send it on to Sweden to see 
if a portrait of Governor Printz could 
be found. Accordingly, I did write 



22 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

him the next day, as he requested, 
and in a few days received the follow- 
ing reply: 

* legation de Suede 

'Washington the 11 of 
February, '09. 
''My dear Mr. Balch: 

"Many thanks for your kind letter 
and for all kindness shown me at 
the splendid entertainment by the 
'Society of Colonial Wars.' 

"I have already copied your letter 
and sent it home to start a search for 
Printz's portrait. 

"It is sure to be somewhere, but 
there may be some difficulty to find 
it. Probably there is one in Chem- 
nitz. The case is in the best of hands 
now and I will let you know as soon 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 23 

as I hear something of interest in the 
matter. 

"I am, my dear Mr. Balch, your 
cousin from the 17th Century. 
'^Truly and respectfully 

'Tagercrantz/' 

The investigation thus begun re- 
sulted in the finding of a portrait of 
Johan Printz in the church of Jon- 
koping. It had been discovered a 
few years before by Dr. Amandus 
Johnson. A copy of this picture was 
made and sent over as a gift from 
King Gustavus the Fifth, not to the 
Historical Society, as I had sug- 
gested, but to our Swedish Colonial 
Society, then recently organized by 
the vision and energy of Messrs. 
Gregory B. Keen and Amandus John- 
son. And to that society it still 



24 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

belongs. That was the first practical 
step to recognize here Printz's his- 
torical importance. 

As time went on, I looked further 
into the subject of that early begin- 
ning of our Province. I presented a 
paper at the annual meeting of the 
American Antiquarian Society at 
Worcester, Massachusetts, on Wed- 
nesday the 21st of October, 1914, on 
"The Swedish Beginnings of Penn- 
sylvania.'' ^ 1 told the gentlemen from 
Massachusetts and other New Eng- 
landers there assembled how the sov- 
ereignty of our Province and State 
began with Johan Printz, Governor 
of New Sweden in 1643, how he had 
established the capital of his govern- 

^ ** Proceedings of the American Antiquarian 
Society for October 21st, 1914," "Worcester, 
Massachusetts, New Series, Volume 24, page 305. 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 25 

ment on Great Tinicum Island, which 
was the first capital representing a 
European sovereign planted within 
the bounds of what is now Pennsyl- 
vania, and how Pennsylvania alone 
of the Thirteen Colonies looked for 
the beginning of her sovereignty and 
Christianity to Sweden. 

The next year, in a paper which I 
read before the American Philosoph- 
ical Society on the 5th of March, 
1915,^ I again spoke of Governor 
Printz and his pioneers on Tinicum 
Island as having been the founders 
of what eventually became our pres- 
ent State of Pennsylvania, and urged 
that, ''first a bronze tablet should be 

^ "Proceedings of the American Philosophical 
Society, January — April, 1915," Philadelphia, 
Volume LIII., No. 216, page 12. ' 



26 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

erected in memory of Governor Printz 
and his capital called Nya Goteborg 
on Great Tinicum Island, and sec- 
ond, a bronze statue ot Governor 
Printz, either of life or heroic size, 
should be placed at some conspicuous 
place in the city of Philadelphia/' I 
presented the same idea a month 
later in another paper before the 
Society of Colonial Governors of 
Pennsylvania.^ 

Owing to the war I let the subject 
remain quiet for a time. But the 
20th of March, 1920, I wrote to 
Governor Sproul and called his at- 
tention to Johan Printz and urged 
upon him that the Commonwealth 
should erect a monument in memory 

-^ Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Governors," 
Philadelphia, 1916, Volume I, page 300. 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 27 

of Governor Printz at Harrisburg. 
As a result, Governor Sproul became 
interested in the idea of commemo- 
rating Printz and had the copy of 
Printz's portrait, belonging to the 
Swedish Colonial Society, copied by 
Madame Van Helden in the spring of 
1921, and this last copy now hangs 
in the Governor's mansion at Har- 
risburg with this interesting inscrip- 
tion upon it for all future Governors 
to read: '*Johan Printz, Governor of 
New Sweden, 1643-1653, who estab- 
lished at Tinicum Island, on the 
Delaware River, the first permanent 
seat of government in Pennsylvania/' 
That was a second practical step in 
recognition of Governor Printz and 
his government at Tinicum, this time 
carried into effect by the executive of 
the Commonwealth. 



28 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

Since then I have called attention 
many times to Governor Printz and 
urged that Pennsylvania properly re- 
call his memory and his times to the 
knowledge of the people of Pennsyl- 
vania and consequently to the world 
at large. For if Pennsylvanians do 
not do it, it is not likely that stran- 
gers will.^ 

^ Concerning the Colony of New Sweden, the 
reader is referred to the monumental work of 
Dr. Amandus Johnson, "The Swedish Settlement 
on the Delaware, 1638-1664," Philadelphia, 1911, 
published by the Swedish Colonial Society. 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 29 




III. 

OW what can be done to bring 
to the notice of the Ameri- 
can people the Swedish settlement 
planted on Great Tinicum Island 
by Governor Printz as one of the 
birthplaces of the American Nation 
and the cradle of our Pennsylvania? 
Here are a few suggestions. The 
quickest and least costly way to place 
Johan Printz prominently before the 
American public would be to name 
the highway between Wilmington 
and Philadelphia the GOVERNOR 
PRINTZ HIGHWAY. It was at 
Fort Christina, whose site is now 
within the bounds of the city of 
Wilmington, that Printz landed 



30 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

upon^^his arrival in New Sweden. 
And it was at Tinicum, only a few 
miles below Philadelphia, now the 
chief city in the lands over which 
Printz ruled, that he established the 
seat of his government. If the high- 
way connecting those two towns were 
called after him, it would help greatly 
to make him known in the localities 
in which he ruled and it would not 
cost anything beyond the price of a 
few signs. 

Trees could be planted to Printz's 
memory in Fairmount Park, at Es- 
sington, at Harrisburg and other 
places by patriotic societies, or other 
associations, or the school children. 

In addition, Johan Printz should 
be visualized in bronze for the people 
of Philadelphia, the largest city in 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 3 1 

the territory that once was New 
Sweden, and also for the inhabitants 
of Harrisburg, the present capital of 
the Commonwealth. 

Over and above these various ways 
of recalling to the present and future 
generations the beginning of the sov- 
ereignty of our State, there is some- 
thing else that Pennsylvania could 
and should do. Pennsylvania should 
preserve for all time its cradle. This 
could be accomplished by the State 
acquiring for an historic State Park, 
the plot of ground, about four and a 
half acres or so in size, upon which 
Printz's castle formerly stood and on 
which now is the Tinicum Inn. It 
faces on the Delaware River and di- 
rectly opposite. Little Tinicum Is- 
land, rising out of the Delaware 



32 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

River, seems to float upon the waters. 
Little Tinicum should also be ac- 
quired by the State, for it was because 
of the natural harbor existing be- 
tween Great and Little Tinicum Is- 
lands, that Printz decided to estab- 
lish the seat of his government on the 
lower end of the greater island. In 
that way he secured not only an ad- 
vantageous position to command the 
passage up the river, but also at the 
same time a good harbor for his sail- 
ing vessels. Upon the Tinicum Inn 
plot of ground on the main island, 
Printzhof could be restored exactly 
as it stood originally if any plan or 
drawing of it remains. Or in case 
there is no picture of it extant, then 
a Swedish house of the middle of the 
seventeenth century and of the prob- 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 33 

able size of Printz's castle, could be 
reproduced at the spot where Printz- 
hof was located and so visualize as 
far as possible for the people of this 
Commonwealth, the American home 
of Governor Printz. 

Immediately adjoining the Printz- 
hof or Tinicum Inn plot of ground, 
the Corinthian Yacht Club owns the 
land lower down the river. Upon the 
grounds of the yacht club stood for- 
merly Fort Nya Goteborg and also 
the Swedish chapel. So long as the 
Corinthian Yacht Club wishes to re- 
tain their beautifully kept grounds, 
they should not be disturbed. They 
have preserved the memory of the 
early Swedish settlement under 
Printz with care. The large flat stone 
at the entrance of the club house was 



34 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

originally a part of the Swedish 
chapel. And the club possesses some 
other more modest relics of the 
Swedes. Indeed, if it had not been 
for the Corinthian Yacht Club, their 
land even before now might have be- 
come merely a factory site, and what 
a comment that would be for Penn- 
sylvania. So long as the Yacht Club 
wishes to retain that land, it is safe 
from desecration and the club should 
be thanked by every one that takes 
an interest and pride in the history 
of our State. 

The Tinicum Inn plot, however, is 
not safe for the future. It might be 
bought for a factory site. The State 
should acquire it as soon as possible, 
as well as Little Tinicum Island. To 
the two should be given the name 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 35 

of GOVERNOR PRINTZ PARK. 
Such a historic park, like the park 
at Valley Forge, would then take its 
place naturally in the metropolitan 
park system of a greater Philadel- 
phia. 

All such efforts here in Pennsyl- 
vania to commemorate the governor- 
ship of Johan Printz over New Sweden 
and the establishment of the capital 
of the colony at Tinicum, would 
naturally attract interest in Sweden 
to him and his expedition. And it 
might well be that by 1942 the tri- 
centenary of the sailing of the expedi- 
tion under his command from the 
port of Goteborg would be celebrated 
in that seaport town. For instance, 
a bronze memorial tablet could be 
unveiled in that year at an appro- 
priate place in that city. 



36 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

Then looking into the future a 
score of years from now, in 1943 the 
city of Philadelphia and the State of 
Pennsylvania could join together to 
appropriately celebrate the tri-cen- 
tenary of the landing of Governor 
Printz and the Swedes at Tinicum 
and the establishment of the capital 
of New Sweden there. A pageant 
could be staged on the Delaware 
River and Tinicum Island showing 
Governor Printz and the Swedes 
sailing up the Delaware River, dis- 
embarking at Essington, the hoisting 
of the Swedish flag, and the re-enact- 
ment of other appropriate events con- 
nected with the beginning of the set- 
tlement at Tinicum. A series of spe- 
cial stamps could be issued by the 
Federal Government showing the 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 37 

Swedish pioneers landing at Tinicum, 
the portrait of Governor Printz, Old 
Swedes's Church, and so on. 



38 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

IV. 

THIS great and powerful country 
of ours was built out of Thir- 
teen separate and distinct Colonies. 
Fused by the stress of war into a 
common league for defense, they all 
called alike on the past experience of 
humanity in general and on their 
own experience as individual colonies, 
in forming and establishing our gov- 
ernment. Each and every one of 
those Thirteen Colonies or States 
did its share in the construction of 
the Nation. To no one of them 
alone, nor any two or three of them, 
but to all Thirteen together belongs 
that glory. As one of the Thirteen, 
Pennsylvania did her full share in 
building the Union. 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 39 

Pennsylvania, however, unfortu- 
nately, has not made a large part of 
her history adequately known. She 
has done well by William Penn in 
writing his name in large letters^upon 
the tablets of history. The fame of 
the great proprietor is assured as 
long as history shall be written and 
taught. Many others connected 
with the founding and development 
of Pennsylvania, however, she has 
allowed to be forgotten, while she 
has forged forward successfully in 
her wonderful commercial career. 
Among those who have been per- 
mitted to fall into oblivion is Johan 
Printz and the early Swedish settle- 
ment which he founded at Tinicum. 
But Pennsylvania can ill afford to 
let Printz and that early settlement 



40 THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 

be all but forgotten. In that settle- 
ment at Tinicum, Pennsylvania pos- 
sesses one of the birthplaces of the 
American Nation. It is one of the 
birthplaces of the country as truly 
as Jamestown Island, Fort Orange, 
Plymouth Rock and other revered 
and sacred historic points in the origi- 
nal Thirteen States are the birth- 
places of America. Pennsylvania 
should make as widely known that 
first little settlement within the 
bounds of our State as Virginia and 
Massachusetts have brought into 
public view respectively the early set- 
tlements at Jamestown and Ply- 
mouth Rock. If we do not make 
it known, nobody else will. The 
easiest and least costly way to take 
the first step to that end is to begin 



THE CRADLE OF PENNSYLVANIA 4 1 

by naming the main highway be- 
tween Philadelphia and Wilmington 
the Governor Printz Highway. Then 
as soon as possible the State should 
secure the four-and-a-half acre lot on 
which Printzhof was located and also 
Little Tinicum Island, and make 
them into a State Park bearing the 
name of the first white ruler in the 
land comprised within the bounds of 
what is today the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania — 

GOVERNOR PRINTZ PARK. 



Philadelphia, 1st October, 1921. 



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